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Plans Lodged for Stage 1 of Archerfield Wetlands Parkland

A plan to turn the former Durack wastewater treatment plant into the Archerfield Wetlands Parkland and Interpretive Centre has been submitted to Council. Once approved, it will see the site’s transformation into play area for children, sports and educational centre for the youth, and events centre for the families.

The proposal (DA A005681203), lodged in March 2021, is part of the long-term planning for the Oxley Creek Transformation project and will cover 8.65 hectares of recreational space. The community site will also include provisions to support school workshops, an outdoor cinema, as well as barbecues and picnics sites for groups.

Its most exciting feature is the water play area with its rotating spray arm, sequenced inground spray jets, and rain curtains. The facility will also have its own nursery and potting shed.

Photo Credit: Oxley Creek Transformation

Residents had mixed reactions to the project when it was initially announced in 2019. While many looked forward to the improvements in this suburb, to benefit residents of all ages, some have raised concerns over the potential destruction of the wetlands and the animals that inhabit the site.

The Oxley Creek Transformation project has been set for 20 years with the Archerfield Wetlands Parkland and Interpretive Centre projected for completion by 2026.

However, around 65 percent of the wetlands will be focused on “conservation and vegetation management,” per the official site. This will allow for the community to enjoy the recreational facilities whilst a significant portion of the site will be an open green space.

Stage 1 of the construction could start in early 2022.

Malia Knox: 9-Year-Old Fights for New Female Monuments in Queensland

After a trip to the Sherwood Arboretum, nine-year-old girl Malia Knox urged the Queensland Government to provide proper representation for women and girls across the State via public statues, pictures and plaques.

During a visit to the Sherwood Arboretum with her mother, Kelley Knox, Malia questioned why all the plaques at the central promenade were dedicated to men. With her curiosity piqued, she sought out to see if there were any public monuments within the area dedicated to women.

Malia’s research has revealed that there are currently only three statues of women in Brisbane: the suffragette Emma Miller, Lady Diamantina Bowen, and Laura Geitz, the captain of the Australian Diamonds. This revelation, combined with the fact that there were six statues of men at Suncorp Stadium alone, prompted Malia to begin her project: #femalefaces4publicplaces.

Following Malia’s efforts, the Palaszczuk Government has shown its willingness and support. Shannon Fentiman, Attorney-General and Minister for Women, stands with Malia and applauds her for her work towards gender equality.

Malia Knox is just 9 years old, but she's already creating change 🙌 pic.twitter.com/O61qDnIfHL
— Annastacia Palaszczuk (@AnnastaciaMP) March 10, 2021

“It’s fantastic to see young Queenslanders like Malia are passionate about gender equality,” says Ms. Fentiman. “Speaking out and calling for change. We know there is a huge disparity between male and female representation across our public monuments thanks to Malia’s work on her #femalefaces4publicplaces project.”

The project revolved around the creation of a Parliamentary Petition. This petition vied for the creation of a law that requires 50 per cent of statues, pictures and plaques in public spaces in Queensland to depict real women.

Malia’s project managed to gain almost 800 signatures total. According to Ms. Fentiman, the Palaszczuk Government is committed to making sure the public monuments in Queensland reflect contemporary views as well as the communities people live in.

“By doing all we can to increase the representation of real women and girls in memorials and monuments in Queensland, we are continuing to make a positive difference to the lives of women and girls in Queensland, such as Malia,” Ms. Fentiman concludes.

The park and heritage site that started Malia’s project, the Sherwood Arboretum, can be found at 57 Dewar Terrace, Sherwood.

Fire Pit Complaints Slightly Increase One Year After Council Lifts Ban

Fire pit complaints across Brisbane’s suburbs have had a slight increase nearly one year since the Council overturned the ban and following a trial that came about because of an incident involving an Oxley mum.

In September 2020, Brisbane City Council amended the order on brazier and fire pit use in residential areas.

Under the new law, backyard fire pits are now allowed provided it’s safe, compliant, monitored at all times, and at least 2.5 metres away from the property. The smoke shouldn’t be burned overnight or impact the neighbours, especially those who have respiratory issues. or be burned overnight.

According to Councillor Kim Marx, the Community Health and Safety Chairperson, Council had 487 complaints pertaining to backyard fire pits and 136 complaints about smoke nuisance since June 2020.

Yet Ms Marx said most of the residents have been following the safety practices as the ban has been lifted after the three-month trial.

In contrast, before the trial and the amended order, an Oxley mother’s backyard fire pit party for her kids in April 2020 received 158 complaints and 11 smoke nuisance complaints. The following month, the complaints increased to 203 and 40 for backyard burning and smoke, respectively.

The Oxley mother’s experience raised awareness for the Council’s laws on brazier and fire pit use, which many residents said they were not aware of until this incident. Ms Marx said that the law has been existing since 2000 under the Health, Safety and Amenity Local Law.

Backyard fire pits became popular in 2020 due to the lockdowns as families tried to find other activities with their children.

Luina Bio Confident They Can Help Make New Generation mRNA Vaccines Against COVID-19

Darra-based biotech startup company Luina Bio believes they have the ingredients and the expertise necessary to help produce a new generation of mRNA vaccines to help in the fight against COVID-19.

mRNA vaccines, like the one produced by pharmaceutical giant Pfizer, are at the forefront of the worldwide efforts to contain the coronavirus pandemic.

At the present moment, Luina Bio helps prepare vaccines and proteins for researchers and companies worldwide, with more than 90 per cent of its business coming from overseas clients.

“As a microbial fermentation company, Luina Bio has all the capacity to produce the API – the active pharmaceutical – for mRNA vaccines,” Max Rosetto, Luina’s General Manager (Business Development) explained at a BioMelbourne Network event recently.

Their current capacity allows them to produce 1.4 million doses of the active drug for the vaccines — a number which can be increased to 20 million doses with some investment.

The federal government began discussing the production of the vaccines with numerous local manufacturers, Luina Bio included, in 2020. Government plans are already in place for a COVID-19 vaccine roll-out, with smaller startups volunteering to partake in the creation of mRNA vaccines in the future.

However, Karen Andrews, Minister for Industry, Science and Technology, reiterated that the production of mRNA products at scale is challenging and will take time to develop.

About Luina Bio

Luina Bio, founded and based in Brisbane, has served pharmaceutical, biotechnology, and veterinary industries across the globe for over 20 years by supplying them with manufacturing solutions for biological drugs.

Their primary clients consist of research institutes, universities, and biopharmaceutical development companies. Luina Bio’s manufacturing includes, but is not limited to, recombinant proteins and vaccines, live biotherapeutics, plasmid DNA, and human and veterinary products.
For more information, visit their website.

Graceville Realtor Takes Buyers on a Chopper Ride Over their New Home

Luke Moody, a Graceville real estate agent, is a familiar sight at Archerfield Airport, where he delivers a unique settlement gift for successful property buyers. He takes them on a special flyover to their new home and the view from above is always spectacular.

Having obtained his helicopter licence in the United Kingdom at 16 years old, or before he could get a driver’s licence, Luke has been combining both his passions for flying as a former helicopter instructor and the property market, where he gets to negotiate and deal with all kinds of people.

The idea of taking his clients on a chopper ride has generated a positive response. Instead of a bottle of wine, beautiful flower arrangements or scented candles for their new house, the real estate agent gives buyers a unique and exciting incentive to see Brisbane from a new perspective.

The flyover usually takes 20 minutes from the Archerfield Airport and as a bonus, Luke also shows the clients Brisbane’s remarkable landmarks and the CBD.

Meanwhile, at Hauss Realty, Luke specialises in prestige and waterfront properties as well as new developments. As someone who has been in the industry for some time, he also gives fellow real estate agents advice on preparation and styling and has an extensive contact list of buyers and industry experts.

The negotiator values honest advice and constantly communicates with his clients during the process of helping them obtain their dream house or investments.

AntiWave Supplies Yeronga Memorial Park With New Pool Equipment

Yeronga Memorial Park has received new aquatics equipment in the form of a state-of-the-art net and an innovative pool lane perfect for training.

World cups and tournaments such as FINA World Cup events and the South East Asian Games competitions all make use of the aquatics equipment supplier AntiWave’s tried-and-tested nets. The Commonwealth Games deploys their equipment during water polo matches, as does the Yeronga Park Memorial Swimming pool in Ipswich Road, which is home to the FINA-compliant, AntiWave Global Anti Goal (GAG).

AntiWave’s new Global Anti Goal, which can be found in the Yeronga Memorial Park Swimming Pool
Photo credit: Youtube/AntiWave

On top of the GAG, Yeronga Park Memorial houses one of AntiWave’s recent innovations — the Ultimate Swimming Lane, which features a high-floating and extremely durable lane rope fashioned from high density structural foam. This protective piece of equipment has a soft-touch finish that makes it suitable for training and general aquatics lane division and use.

AntiWave pool lane
Photo credit: AntiWave

A Brief History of AntiWave

Starting this year, AntiWave, founded by Anti Kajlich, celebrates 50 years of distributing equipment to pools in over 150 countries, including ones in Australia, with sturdy water polo nets and other high-grade pool equipment.

Anti Kajlich, who was once a professional Water polo goalie and now reigns as the current 2017 FINA Masters 70+ Goalie, first founded the aquatic equipment company AntiWave in 1971. The company’s equipment first came into the limelight when they were used for the 1972 Olympic Games in Munich, on top of the 1st World Aquatics Championship in Cali, Colombia in 1975.

To this day, Anti continues to play water polo well into his 70’s in the FINA Masters Competitions. His son, Anton Kajlich, works as AntiWave’s General Manager. Like his father, Anton also plays water polo, taking on the position of goalie. Together, father and son have worked to maintain AntiWave’s status as a world-leading and innovative aquatic equipment designer and supplier.

Sherwood Bus Depot: Why Council Spent $132 Million to Buy Back Property

Brisbane City Council spent $132 million to buy back the Sherwood Bus Depot after selling the block to private owners for $21 million in 2009.

Council made the purchase in December 2020, prompting a debate among the councillors during a recent deliberation of the quarterly financial documents. However, Lord Mayor Adrian Schrinner said the decision was “financially responsible.”

Mr Schrinner said that Council sold a vacant land 12 years ago, which is now the home to a strategical and significant world-class facility. The mayor said that the Sherwood Bus Depot is an important asset for Brisbane’s bus networks.

Photo Credit: Lord Mayor Adrian Schrinner/Facebook

But this wasn’t the first mistake Council made on the same property, according to Councillor Jared Cassidy and Councillor Nicole Johnston.

Ms Johnston said that her ward could use the $132 million for “every project I’ve ever wanted to do.”

After Council sold the land, the owners, Morstem No.1 Pty Ltd, built the bus depot, which was leased to the government in 2012 for 25 years. The latest financial documents showed that rental fees for the depot in 2020 cost Council $6.3 million.

Ms Johson said that this decision was not in the ratepayer’s best interest. In another Facebook post, Mr Cassidy said this was a “strange deal.”

“We can only assume that this means the bus depot will be on-sold to the Council’s private development company, City of Brisbane Investment Corporation (CBIC). That will mean there will still be ongoing rent costs for ratepayers and then some of that rent is paid back to council as a ‘dividend,'” Mr Cassidy wrote.

Slipstream Celebrates Brand New Look After $1.5M Revamp

Photo credit: Slipstream Brewing Co/Instagram

Yeerongpilly’s iconic craft brewery Slipstream Brewing Co has undergone a $1.5-million renovation to appeal to a wider audience, particularly customers who love to dine out with their children.

When owners Deale and Elisa Stanley-Hunt first opened Slipstream in 2017, most of their customers were young people who love to unwind. But as the business grew, they noticed that the craft brewery has become a go-to venue for families.

Hence, they submitted a development application to Brisbane City Council in August 2020 to renovate the place and finally, after getting the approval and weeks of construction from January to February, Slipstream reopened on 19 February 2021 with a bigger venue and a brand new look.

The brewery’s regular food trucks were replaced by an enormous kitchen. In addition to new signage and some colourful furniture, the place also comes with new paint and awnings. Interior design studio Charlie & Rose were in charge of updating the property while retaining its signature industrial feel.

Also part of the overhaul is transforming the old front carparking area into an outdoor seating space. The indoor and outdoor dining can now accommodate up to 250 guests.

To make the pub more family-friendly, Slipstream added a shaded farmhouse play area for children in the beer garden. When you come with your little ones, be sure to ask for the new kids’ menu which includes options like Cali cheese breads, fish bites, and cheeseburger, all served with a choice of fries or a fresh mix of cucumber, tomato and celery.

Slipstream when it first opened in 2017 (Photo credit: Slipstream Brewing Company/Facebook)

The pub’s new outdoor seating space after a major renovation (Photo credit: Slipstream Brewing Company/Facebook)

At first, a few neighbours opposed the application because of the noise it might bring to the adjoining residential block, but the owners assured the staff would monitor the car park to ensure customers were considerate of neighbours.

In addition to monitoring the place, the owners also built a 2.2m high acoustic fence, positioned the extensions away from the nearest neighbours and ensured light pollution was minimised.

The brewery will be offering 20 taps, including exclusive beers such as a Hazy IPA and Banoffee Pie Pastry Stout. Other than beer, they will have wine, spirits and a menu that will surely appeal to both kids and grown-ups. If you’re a regular, one of the new things you’ll notice here is the authentic Italian pizza oven and smoker in the middle of a large kitchen.

Slipstream opened in February 2021 with new trading hours of 11:00 am to 10:00 pm from Wednesday to Sunday. Bookings are highly recommended, especially on weekends. For more information, visit Slipstream Brewing’s Facebook page or follow them on Instagram @slipstreambrewing.

Plans To Refurbish Sherwood Heritage Home Met With Criticism

Photo credit: heritage.brisbane.qld.gov.au

Plans to refurbish the heritage house at 31 Linda Street in Sherwood to make way for a family home have been given the go-ahead despite opposition from locals living nearby. One couple living close to the subject site is planning to take legal action against the renovation.

The development application lodged by Steffan Town Planning on behalf of new owners Genevieve and William Prowse stated that they purchased the property with the intention to to create a family house. While it would undergo refurbishment and renovation, they wanted to keep its original integrity and features.

Original window and french door inside the Sherwood heritage house (Photo credit: pdonline.brisbane.qld.gov.au)

In the plans submitted to the Council, it was stated that the Prowse family is planning to have a bathroom, ensuite and kitchen, repair walls, and reconstruct the internal layout of the home, as well as refurbish “traditional features” of the home, and demolish a recently-added carport. Also part of the plan is to add a single-storey garage and studio at the lot’s southeast corner, next to the railway line at the building’s “front.”

A report by Steffan Town Planning stated that “the proposed development is consistent with the Assessment Benchmarks of the applicable zone, neighbourhood plan and overlay codes” and “is compatible in scale with the adjoining dwelling houses and will maintain a suitable level of amenity and privacy to adjoining dwellings.”

Photo credit: pdonline.brisbane.qld.gov.au

Issues Raised

Scott Moorhead and Catherine Moorhead of 27 Linda Street appealed to the Planning and Environment Court at Brisbane against the respondent’s decision to approve the development application.

The Moorheads, whose house share a common boundary with the heritage house said that the plan will severely impact the comfort and amenity of the adjoining residence, contrary to Character residential zone code, Sherwood-Graceville District Neighbourhood Plan, and Dwelling house code.

“We implore Council to thoughtfully consider our opposition to the current proposal, including the attachment, which includes substantial support material, to come and personally view the site from Linda Street, and allow the applicants to pursue their first proposal (with garage and studio sited to the south east) or another of suitable position and scale,” the Moorheads stated in their submission.

Heritage House

According to the Brisbane City Council Heritage Register, this former farmhouse is believed to have been built some time before 1890 for George Jimmieson, who had worked land in the district 1866. The house later passed to two other local farming families, the Martindales and the Nosworthys. The house still sits on its original 1890 subdivision and survives as a good example of a late nineteenth century farmhouse.

In 1946 the house transferred to William Albert Brandes. When William Brandes passed away in 1980, the title was transferred to his wife Jean Allison Brandes. The place is understood to be owned by the Brandes family until 2018, when the current owners purchased the property.

Inspiring Corinda Boy with Cerebral Palsy Takes Up RaceRunning, Dreams About Paralympics

Max Bailey-Jensen, a resident of Corinda, is no ordinary 12-year-old. As someone with cerebral palsy, Max doesn’t let his limitations stop him from doing unexpected things, including competing in his dream sport: RaceRunning.

The young south western Brisbane local was hooked on RaceRunning when he saw the competition in Denmark, his birth country. Also known as Frame Running, this is an athletic discipline for Paralympians.

Back home in Australia, his family explored the possibility of their son joining the race with the help of the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS).

Even with no independent hand function, the determined 12-year-old participates in various sports activities, such as a triathlon, weekly Crossfit sessions and Judo training with the help of assistive technologies. He’s also quite adept in designing and drawing using Adobe Photoshop and Illustrator and like a lot of the kids his age, Max is a digital native, who loves the Xbox, iPad or Garage Band.

Max’s family applied for an NDIS grant when the special RaceRunning bikes were imported to Australia and he became the first RaceRunner participant to receive the first frame. He was also the first to receive a national classification in the sport after joining the University of Queensland’s PARASTART RaceRunning program for people with high needs cerebral palsy.

“Max is now training up to five days a week RaceRunning, swimming, and he’s in the weights room developing his physical skills and abilities,” his mum, Samantha, said.

“The benefits we are seeing from a physical, mental and emotional level are really positive, and it’s great to see Max so empowered and fitter.

“With the support of the NDIS, we are able to send Max to training with support workers, which is helping to create independence and providing him the opportunity to make more individual choices for his life.”

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A post shared by Max Bailey-Jensen (@mbjv8)

Max recently secured his second plan with the NDIS, which opens more possibilities for the young athlete.

“Max’s first plan was very equipment-focused; it was incredible when he got his first power chair at 11 and to see him have independence in his mobility.

“When the NDIS approved his assisted speech technology equipment in just three weeks so he could start high school with a voice; that was another great day.”

In 2024, RaceRunning will debut at the Paris 2024 Paralympics.

“Who knows, maybe Max will be on the track running for Australia,” his mum said with optimism.

For enquiries about NDIS funding, contact a Carers Queensland’s NDIS Local Area Coordination Partner at 1300 999 636, or cq.enquiries@ndis.gov.au.